Having lived in Apple Valley, California, for most of his 50 years, Tommy Kirkmeyer knows a thing or two about the desert. He’s been spending time playing in it with various vehicles, but he may have reached the pinnacle with this ’92 Ford F-150.
This fine ride has more in common with a Trophy Truck than it does with an F-150, and since there’s a lot to talk about, let’s begin with the frame. It’s a custom unit built by RJ Fabrication—who built the Ford into what it is today. It utilizes a Blitzkrieg Motorsports F-150 Long-Travel front-end system that has seen the kingpin kit modified by RJ Fabrication. The front spindles are Blitzkrieg F-150, while Jamar Trophy Truck, six-piston calipers put the clamp onto 14-inch rotors. Rounding things off are the King shocks. A 16-inch 4.0 five-tube bypass joins with the Eibach Springs-equipped (400/550) King 2.5 coilover to give the Ford somewhere around 20-plus inches of wheel travel.
The rear suspension is based around a set of 60-inch-long Dirt Tech trailing arms and RJ Fabrication upper links. They hold the beautiful Tubeworks 4-inch Trophy Truck rearend housing that has Gear Works 5:43 gears, 36-spline TT axles, which, in turn, connect to Jamar TT 6-6.5 hubs. As with the front, six-piston Jamar calipers and 14-inch rotors are used, as are King 2.5 coilovers with Eibach Springs, but this time the 4.0 five-tube bypass shocks are 18 inches long.
Rolling over the roughest terrain is easy thanks to the huge 39-inch BFG Baja TA KRT tires mounted to 17x9 Trail Ready beadlock wheels.
And thanks to the big-block Chevy LSX engine, rolling over things may really need to be described as flying over things. Built by Turn Key Engine Supply out of Oceanside, California, and displacing 454 ci, it features 11:1 compression, thanks to the LS7 heads and Race Tech–forged pistons. Getting fuel and air into the big mill is done with an MSD Atomic Airforce intake manifold fed with a Nick Williams 102mm throttle body and a UMP 4-inch air cleaner, with FAST fuel rails and injectors and a Holley HP EFI management system.
Inside, items like a custom ground COMP Cams camshaft and a Moroso oil pump keep things spinning along. When it comes to getting the spent fuel out, RJ Fabrication custom-built a set of 2-inch long-tube headers and a 3.5-inch exhaust that ends with Flowmaster mufflers. The headers were ceramic coated with titanium by Young Gun Coatings in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Keeping the fuel coming is done with a pair of Aeromotive A1000 fuel pumps pulling the hi-test from a custom 70-gallon Harmon fuel cell.
